Car buying

[Rush2112]

I'm not a gearhead by any means, but I've done routine maintenance myself numerous times via my Jeep and Dodge (MOPAR BABY) so I have no problem looking under the hood to check fluids or doing general visual inspections like cleanliness of the bay or the air filter.

Did your bases all have the garage the airmen and officers could use? My sister was always like "do the work yourself it's cheaper blah, blah." I also didn't have almost instant access to a pretty full-service garage.

[EnochRoot]

B*tch I don't even fit under my car anymore

[Johnnie]

If you buy during the week and have a guy you trust you absolutely can take it to the mechanic for. Quick once over. But I haven’t done that in years since the carfax usually works. But pull it yourself and don’t trust what dealer hands you. It is often outdated

Hmmm, I just assumed you can't because of the market and that the next person to come along won't do that. I guess I'll have to look into that.

Did your bases all have the garage the airmen and officers could use? My sister was always like "do the work yourself it's cheaper blah, blah." I also didn't have almost instant access to a pretty full-service garage.

The Auto Hobby shops have slowly started going away because funding has been steadily cut to MWR (Morale, Welfare, & Recreation) facilities over the course of time. 20 years ago they were necessary and vital. These days everything requires certified technicians because the electrical is too entwined with the mechanical, so usage of them has decreased. And the AF isn't going to pay to have specialized mechanics in that regard.

I used them every so often at my first base and constantly while in Germany (couldn't work on a Jeep anywhere else), but at Davis-Monthan I haven't used it once and at Kirtland I only used it to store my vehicle when I was deploying.

[Gunpowder]

Yeah if your car is new (last 3-5 years or so) or even slightly fancy you aren't doing shit to it.

Took me 4 hrs to change the battery on a 2020 Mercedes Peasant-class

[Steve of phpBB]

Yeah if your car is new (last 3-5 years or so) or even slightly fancy you aren't doing shit to it.

Took me 4 hrs to change the battery on a 2020 Mercedes Peasant-class

Even the damned wiper blades have gotten too complicated.

[Johnnie]

I finally was able to buy my car after it going through reconditioning and getting a few things fixed.

And I gotta say, I completely forgot that the toughest part of the transaction is at the end when you're dealing with the finance guy trying to upsell you on an extended warranty and getting you to buy a security system.

He was so slick to transition into his pitch I didn't realize he was trying to get me to buy something and thought he was just talking about something that came with the purchase.

It didn't dawn on me until he pulled out this Waffle House menu looking laminate paper and said "for an extra $50 a month if anything goes wrong it's covered by our platinum level." That laminate looked like something out of the late 90s too with its color scheme and font.

I had to decline like 5 times before he finally let me buy the car. The worst was him saying the car is 9 years old (it's, at best 8 since 2016s are built in 2015) and repeatedly saying "A vehicle this old will have something break on it in the next 4 years. If something breaks this will pay for itself." To which I replied "Well, aren't Hyundais pretty reliable? That's the point of me buying the car in the first place. I don't anticipate something simply breaking. And if something breaks I'll get it fixed then."

All of a sudden I could write my check, sign paperwork, and drive away.

[A_B]

I don’t think I’d want to buy a car from someone who says out loud that something is going to break.

[Johnnie]

I don’t think I’d want to buy a car from someone who says out loud that something is going to break.

That's a fair point. But he's the guy divorced from customer service and sales altogether and probably uses that for every person that comes into his office.

Dude was just a jerk.